


Role Reversal

by sugarsweetsunshine



Series: Pegoryu Week 2020 [4]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Cop!Akira, Fluff, M/M, Pegoryu Week 2020, Role Reversal AU, They love each other a lot okay, Thief!Ryuji, i know this is weird role reversal but trust me it makes sense sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:22:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25890547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarsweetsunshine/pseuds/sugarsweetsunshine
Summary: Police detective Kurusu Akira is investigating the exploits of one Joker. But what they don't know is Akira already knows who Joker is and they have very personal history together.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: Pegoryu Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874080
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	Role Reversal

**Author's Note:**

> listen its not midnight yet where im at so this counts as the day. i had a rough time finishing this one since i didnt have an idea for the prompt in the first place but i figured it out as i went along. its not my best quality of work but i still hope you guys like it!
> 
> and yes im counting this as role reversal, i couldnt think of anything else

Akira unlocked his apartment door and trudged inside, kicking it closed behind him so he could lean up against it. Stuck at the station for almost sixteen hours straight working a single case and nothing to show for it. He was tired, hungry, he needed a shower, and his body ached _everywhere._

What he wouldn’t give for a hot bath and a drink. And a week’s vacation.

It was while he was walking through his entryway that Akira realized that his apartment lights were on. There was also the smell of food coming from his kitchen. He slowed his footsteps coming into the hallway, one hand instinctively hovering over his gun while he listened for sounds. Realistically, he had a hunch on who it was already and in the back of his mind he wondered what kind of thief would break into his apartment just to cook dinner.

Akira poked his head out just slightly to peek inside the kitchen. He saw several take out containers from his favorite restaurant as well as the back of a blonde head that he knew all too well. That little devil…

He was probably hoping to surprise him when Akira got home but he also probably didn’t even hear him come in. Well, two can play at that game.

There was a little space between them and Akira had still gone unnoticed so all it took was a few quick and quiet steps for Akira to wrap his arms around the other’s torso and whisper a quiet “Gotcha” right into their neck, feeling their tensed up muscles relax.

“Your reaction time is sloppy.” Akira relaxed their hold just a little bit, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist and pressing a kiss to the nape of their neck.

“Well, excuse me for wanting to surprise my boyfriend when he gets home from work.” Ryuji huffed and gently elbowed Akira off of him. “Got you all your favorites, too.”

It was true; there was practically a whole buffet laid out in his kitchen. On top of that, there were a couple bottles of various alcohol set up at his coffee table and, he hadn’t noticed beforehand, the TV was already on and muted, tuned to Akira’s favorite show.

“Are you making up for the fact that _you’re_ the reason why I’ve been staying so late at work?” Akira asked, only a tiny bit of sarcasm in his voice. 

Ryuji at least had the decency to look a _little_ bit sheepish. “You know I can’t help it, babe. They just make it way too easy for me.” He said as an explanation. Akira made an unconvinced sound and reached over Ryuji to grab a plate.

“More like you have no impulse control without me, you little klepto.” Akira grinned and then yelped when Ryuji reached over to pinch his hip.

“Shut up.” Ryuji pinched him again and then leaned in close to his face, grinning. “You know you love me. Come on, say it. Say you love me.” He nudged Akira’s arm continuously as he teased him. 

Akira, ever the stubborn man, only rolled his eyes and tried to pile his plate with food amidst Ryuji’s nagging. 

“Come on, baby, just say it. You _loooooove_ me.” Ryuji pinched his cheeks and it made it very hard for Akira to contain his smile. Ryuji leaned in closer until their noses touched and squished his cheeks. 

The soft, puppy-dog look in his eyes made Akira soften and he exaggerated a sigh. “Fine. I love you.”

“That’s what I thought. Now, kiss me you brat.” Ryuji pulled him in by the nape before Akira could say anything else. He would be the first to admit that his boyfriend, the love of his life, his sunshine, was an annoying little shit. But goddammit he missed him so much and his kisses were just the thing he needed right now.

“Said the pot to the kettle.” Akira muttered as soon as they pulled apart, lips brushing against each other.

“Shut up.” They traded several more kisses before Akira’s stomach announced its hunger by growling loud enough that he was sure the neighbors could hear it.

They both piled their plates high with food before they took a seat at the couch in front of the TV. Akira didn’t even wait to sit down before digging into his fried rice and noodles. Seeing Ryuji and sharing affection helped brighten his mood a fraction but being able to sit down with food and get comfortable made Akira worry that he might not be able to get up again. Honestly, he was alright with his couch being his resting place.

“Sooooo, how’s work been?” Ryuji asked with his mouth still half-full of food.

“Busy. Thanks to a certain _someone._ ” Akira answered only after swallowing his mouthful and washing it down with a drink.

“Baby, you know I can’t help it.” Ryuji leaned back on the couch, draping his arm over the back with his drink in his hand. “I just love it too much. It reminds me of when we were younger and we would go out nearly every night.” He paused, sounding wistful all of a sudden, turning in his seat to face Akira. “You remember that, yeah? When it was just you and me. We would spend hours walking or driving around, finding the best spots. Looking up as much info on those scumbags as we could get.”

He leaned in closer and placed his hand on the nape of Akira’s neck, gently tugging and playing with the locks of hair there. “You remember those nights in the hotel room? When we would wait _allll_ day and we’d have to find a way to kill time?” His voice was low and he smiled in a way that he knew that he had Akira captivated already. It sent shivers down his spine just thinking about how they would spend their days going from hotel room to hotel room, only to slip out and strike at night.

God, he missed those days. They’d been younger; rebellious and full of energy, wanting to get back at the world that had too much wrong and not enough right. A dumb idea at the time, too hopeful and whimsical to even have a chance of working. 

And then one heist led to another. One calling card to the next. One shamed public figure to another.

The media called them The Phantom Duo. They liked the name but as the jobs got easier, they got bolder. They’d started signing the cards.

_From The Phantom Duo: Joker & Skull_

It had been the best years of their lives. Going wherever they wanted, doing whatever they wished. Doing it all together. Akira wished they could go back to that routine, when things seemed so exciting and new and daring. They just kept getting better and better, snagging more rewards. Jewels, paintings, artifacts from other countries. 

And then they accidentally got sloppy. They’d been far too close to getting caught. The thought of the two of them being separated, either by bars or a bullet, scared them far too much to think about for too long. They made the rough decision the week afterwards.

They had to retire. But they would go out in style.

They’d staged it all brilliantly with the help of Akira’s younger sister. Go in for a large museum heist. Cause a ruckus to get the attention of the authorities while Futaba got a hold of the media and sent an anonymous tip that The Phantom Duo were about to be caught and it would be the story of the decade. A stray bullet ‘accidentally’ hitting a gas pipe, the explosion taking out the whole hallway.

The only things they’d left behind were the coats and the masks they used as disguises, wiped clean of prints or tags. Joker and Skull were presumed killed in the blast and thus was the end of the adventures of The Phantom Duo.

Until a year afterwards when ‘Joker’ made a reappearance. Dressed in a new black coat and blonde hair. Ryuji just couldn’t resist the allure of the thief's life and Akira didn’t have the heart to stop him. But the thought of being caught still scared them both.

So they came up with a way to fix it.

Fake documents and false identities were made up, along with records suddenly appearing in the police archives. Officer Kurusu Akira had been put in charge of handling Joker and investigating the crime scenes where the Phantom Thief had struck.

And maybe evidence might have gotten lost or a crime scene compromised in ways nobody would suspect, but nobody could point their fingers at him. A thief knows how to cover their tracks.

Ryuji took to handling the mantle of Joker well. With him as the acting Phantom Thief and Akira working as the mole inside, that sadly left them with little time for each other. On the bright side, it made the moments when they were together that more special. Plus, Akira had pictures of Ryuji wearing his old mask hung up in his office with the excuse that he needed it for working the case but it gave him the opportunity to admire his lover without anyone else knowing.

Akira had been too lost in his daydreams to notice Ryuji speaking until the blond leaned forward to capture his lips in a kiss. He’d tuned in at the tail end of the sentence but it sounded like Ryuji had been reminiscing outloud of their adventures. 

“Oh, almost forgot this.” Ryuji pulled back abruptly and Akira tried to chase his lips while Ryuji dug around his pocket. “Here. Picked this up for you.” In his palm, Ryuji held a silver skull necklace with a matching silver chain. The eyes of the skull were what looked to be red rubies and surrounding the eye holes were small diamonds, but diamond nonetheless. It was all 100% real; a good thief knows a fake from the real thing.

Akira carefully picked it up and held it up to the light to admire it. The silver gleamed so brightly and the diamonds were bright little dots that reflected the light. Ryuji had a weakness for skull themed items, especially jewelry, and whatever he didn’t keep for himself he usually gave to Akira as a gift.

“I love it.” Akira smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “My favorite foods, my favorite shows, and my favorite person showering me in gifts. What more could a guy want?” 

They laughed together before Akira stood up from the couch and grabbed Ryuji’s hand. He led him to the hallway into the bedroom. During their years of stealing whatever wasn’t tied down (even then that wouldn’t stop them for very long), they couldn’t keep _everything_ that they took. But they kept whatever they were most fond of and sold the rest to other bidders. The only problem was figuring out where to hide their treasures.

Akira opened their closet door and went to the back, pulling back on the fake wall until the doorway opened. Inside was a treasure trove of their goodies. Akira’s fondness for jewels won over everything else and he had stacks upon stacks of rings, necklaces, braces, watches, or just straight up cut jewels. 

He had a special jewelry tree (that had also been swiped during a visit to the jewelry store) that he kept all of his favorites on. Most of them were gifts from Ryuji, including the red garnet choker he adored so much and the diamond engagement ring that Akira wished he could wear out in the public. He gently wrapped the chain of the skull necklace around the metal branch of the tree and it sat there like an unusual Christmas ornament.

He felt Ryuji come up behind him and wrap his arms around his torso, gently squeezing him. 

“Love you, ‘Kira.”

“Love you too, ‘Joker’.”

“Oh, shut up.”


End file.
